Lilly cuts partnership with Noom in latest salvo in war on compounded GLP-1s

Eli Lilly has terminated its partnership with Noom after the telehealth platform continued to sell knockoff versions of blockbuster GLP-1 drugs.

Lilly’s pharmacy provider “has notified Noom that it is terminating Noom’s LillyDirect platform integration,” a spokesperson for the company told Sherwood News on Friday. The partnership with Noom was announced in March and allowed patients on the platform access to vials of Lilly’s blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound, which are cheaper than the pens typically sold.

Noom has recently promoted “microdosed” GLP-1 treatments, using compounded versions of the diabetes and weight-loss medication. Lilly has previously said that part of its deals with telehealth partners are that they don’t continue selling knockoff versions of GLP-1s.

Noom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Telehealth companies like Hims & Hers and Noom began selling copies of the popular weight-loss drugs while they were in shortage but were supposed to stop selling them at scale when supply issues waned earlier this year.

Lilly and Novo Nordisk, which makes rival weight-loss drugs, struck deals with several telehealth companies in what they described as an effort to transition patients who were on compounded versions of their drugs to the name-brand version. But some telehealth companies, which can make more money selling knockoffs compared to shifting customers to the name-brand version, have quietly continued to offer compounded versions.

The end of Lilly’s partnership with Noom marks the latest schism between drugmakers that manufacture the massively popular drugs and the telehealth companies that have helped expand their reach.

Novo Nordisk has partnerships with telehealth providers. In June, Novo abruptly said it was calling off its deal with Hims & Hers and accused the company of “illegal mass compounding and deceptive marketing.”